Who will LAFC play in 2024 Leagues Cup round of 16?

Wednesday marked the beginning of the round of 32 in the 2024 Leagues Cup, with one of the matches being LAFC vs. Austin FC at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The match ended in favour of Steve Cherundolo’s team, who now await the winner of SJ Earthquakes vs. Necaxa in the round of 16. And there had been talk about new star Olivier Giroud being involved.

LAFC overcome Austin

Despite alternating dominance in the initial moments of the game, the first goal came thanks to a defensive error by the Greens and a phenomenal breakaway by Denis Bouanga in the 11th minute. The Black & Golds’ top scorer shot past Brad Stuver, giving the Texan goalkeeper no chance.

Later, Hugo Lloris also had to intervene to keep a clean sheet. The experienced French goalkeeper deflected a shot from Owen Wolff in the six-yard box, and the fans of the Los Angeles organization celebrated as if it were another goal for their team. This save helped LAFC go into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Cherundolo’s substitution brought Cristian Olivera onto the field in place of David Martínez, and this change paid off in the 61st minute. After good individual play, Mateusz Bogusz provided a fabulous assist for Olivera’s run, and the Uruguayan right-winger scored against Stuver with the help of a slight deflection.

Giroud was at BMO Stadium

Although some reports indicated that new signing Giroud might be on the substitutes’ bench on Wednesday, the legendary French forward ended up in a box at BMO Stadium to support his new teammates. Notably, he was alongside American actor Will Ferrell, who is one of the owners of LAFC.

Now, it’s a matter of waiting for the coming days to see if Giroud can be included in the squad for the round of 16 of the 2024 Leagues Cup, but the Black & Gold are already starting to show off their star signing of this transfer window.